As a conventional recorded medium reproducing apparatus having a recorded medium exchanger, a disk reproducing apparatus such as shown in FIG. 26 disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 4-38673 is known in which a stocker houses a plurality of carriers each capable of placing a disk thereon and is raised or lowered by stocker transport means to a height at which a desired carrier is pulled out by a tray. Namely, the stocker is moved by a distance corresponding to the number of shelves for housing carriers.
The tray is transported between a load position shown in FIGS. 26(a) and 26(b) and an eject position shown in FIGS. 26(c). As shown in FIG. 26(a), the carrier having a desired disk placed thereon is pulled out on the tray at the load position, and the disk is clamped by clamping means to reproduce the disk as shown in FIG. 26(b).
As the tray with the carrier moves from the position shown in FIG. 26(a) to the position shown in FIG. 26(c), the carrier on the tray is exposed to the outside of the apparatus housing. In this state, the disk on the carrier is exchanged or a new disk is placed on the carrier. As the tray with the carrier moves from the position shown in FIG. 26(c) to the position shown in FIG. 26(a) and the carrier on the tray is moved back to the stocker, the disk can be exchanged or a new disk can be added to the apparatus. This disk reproducing apparatus is advantageous over a conventional disk reproducing apparatus with an exchanger in that a disk magazine is not used. The disk magazine is expensive, and if it is dismounted from the apparatus and placed at a different position, it takes some time to locate this disk magazine. This is inconvenient to use.
However, this disk reproducing apparatus disclosed in the above-described Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 4-38673 has only one means for pulling a carrier out of the stocker. Therefore, a disk in the stocker cannot be exchanged during the reproduction when the carrier is at the position of reproducing means.
FIG. 27 shows a disk reproducing apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 3-71432 which can exchange a disk even during the reproduction of another disk. This disk reproducing apparatus is of a so-called carousel type. A tray 126 shown in FIG. 27 is driven by a motor and moved into and out of a reproducing apparatus main body 128 in the arrow direction A. A rotary table 130 is rotatively mounted on the tray to be driven by a motor in the arrow direction B. A plurality of disk holders 134 are formed on the rotary table 130 so as to hold disks 101 around the rotation center 132. Each disk holder 134 has a 12 cm CD groove 134a and an 8 cm CD groove 134b. The bottom of the disk holder 134 is inclined in the rotation direction so as to hold a disk in a slanted state.
An opening 136 is formed in the disk holder 134 in the radial direction of the rotary table 130 so as to insert therethrough a turn table and a reproduction head. An opening 138 is formed in the tray 126 at the center back end thereof so as to communicate with the opening 136 of each disk holder 134. During the reproduction, the turntable and reproduction head are inserted into these openings 138 and 136.
A subsidiary chassis 142 is supported under the tray at the center back of a mechanical chassis 140 of the reproducing apparatus main body 128 by a pivot shaft 144 which is pivoted in the arrow direction C by a motor. The subsidiary chassis 142 is mounted with the turntable 172 and an unrepresented reproduction head. A disk clamper 1466 is fixedly mounted on the mechanical chassis, facing the turntable 172 over the tray 126. As the subsidiary chassis 142 pivots upward while the tray 126 is housed in the reproduction apparatus main body 128, the turntable 172 and reproduction head rise and are inserted into the opening 136 of the disk holder 134. Therefore, the disk 101 is placed on the turntable 172, raised above the disk holder 134, and clamped by the disk clamper 146. In this state, the disk can be reproduced by the reproduction head.
As the subsidiary chassis 142 pivots downward while the tray 126 is housed in the reproduction apparatus main body 128, the disk 101 is placed again on the disk holder 134 and the turntable 172 and reproduction head are retracted from the opening 136. Upon a disk ejection operation in the reproduction state, the turntable 172 and reproduction head are retracted from the openings 136 and 138 in the horizontal direction. Therefore, while the reproduction continues, the tray 126 can be pulled out of the reproduction apparatus main body and disks can be exchanged.
A presence/absence of a disk on the tray can be detected by a signal from an optical pickup of the reproduction head. Specifically, after the tray 126 is housed in the reproduction apparatus main body 128 and the height of the optical pickup is adjusted so that light from the optical pickup can be focussed on the surface of the disk at some position, the tray 126 is rotated. A focus error signal of the optical pickup takes a zero value when light is focussed on the surface of the disk. Therefore, by checking the waveform of the focus error signal, information of a presence/absence of a disk on the disk holder 134 can be obtained. With this disk reproducing apparatus, even if a disk is exchanged or dismounted by opening the tray 126 during the reproduction, information of whether a disk was placed on or dismounted from a disk holder 134 cannot be displayed on a display device because the tray cannot be rotated during the reproduction even if the tray 126 is again closed.
Since an "exchange or dismount work of a disk during the reproduction" cannot be displayed on a "display device", a user is required to perform cumbersome operations in order to confirm the contents of the work of opening the tray during the reproduction and exchanging or dismounting a disk. Namely, a user is required either (1) to "interrupt the reproduction, to rotate a corresponding disk holder to the reproduction position, and to confirm a presence/absence of a disk by using a pickup" or (2) to "visually confirm by opening the tray".
This Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 3-71432 discloses the structure that "a light emitting element and a light receiving element are mounted on the tray, facing the disk holder". Also with this structure, the disk holder cannot be rotated after the disk is exchanged and the tray is closed, so that a presence/absence of a disk cannot be confirmed. The disk holder cannot be rotated because the disk holder collides with the reproduction unit during the reproduction. Therefore, the contents of a disk exchange or dismount work during the reproduction cannot be displayed immediately on a display device.
Although it is possible to make the contents of the exchange or dismount work be displayed on the "display device", achieving this configuration is very cumbersome and the control system thereof becomes complicated. Specifically, in order to achieve this configuration, it is necessary to rotate the disk holder after a user exchanges or dismounts a disk and before the tray is closed, and to close the tray after the check operation is performed during the rotation".
More specifically:
(3) A new key is required for instructing to "rotate the disk holder before the tray is closed". In this case, a user is required to operate the instruction key, and after it is confirmed that the work contents are displayed on the display device, the user is required to depress a close key. These operations are cumbersome. PA1 (4) The close key may be used also as the key for instructing to "rotate the disk holder before the tray is closed". In this case, however, even if the close key is operated, the tray cannot be closed until the disk holder stops rotating. This makes the apparatus not easy to use. PA1 (5) In both the cases (3) and (4), it is necessary to consider the "disk holder on which a presently reproduced disk is to be placed". Specifically, during the check operation while the disk holder is rotated, the "disk holder on which a presently reproduced disk is to be placed" is also checked and it is judged as an "absence of a disk" since this disk holder has no disk. Therefore, an indication is made to the effect that the disk holder for the presently reproduced disk has no disk. In order to avoid this, complicated control becomes necessary so as to memorize the position of this disk holder and not to change the contents displayed on the display device.
An alternative configuration of the carousel type that "light emitting elements and light receiving elements are provided at the positions of all disk holders of the tray" may be thought of. In this case, however, the number of light emitting and receiving elements increases and manufacture cost rises. Since a number of components requiring interconnection wires are required to be mounted on the tray which moves by a large distance, the structure becomes complicated and assembly works may be greatly obstructed. Namely, in a conventional disk reproducing apparatus of the carousel type, it is practically impossible to "immediately display on the display device the contents of a disk exchange or dismount work performed during the reproduction".
The invention has been made under the above circumstances. It is an object of the present invention to provide a recorded medium reproducing apparatus capable of immediately confirming the contents of a recorded medium exchange or dismount work performed during the reproduction.
A recorded medium reproducing apparatus of this invention comprises: a stocker capable of accommodating recorded media; reproducing means for reproducing a recorded medium; first transport means for transporting the recorded medium between the inside of the stocker and the outside of an apparatus housing; second transport means for transporting the recorded medium between the inside of the stocker and a reproduction position; positioning means for determining a relative position between the recorded medium in the stocker and the first or second transport means; recorded medium detecting means provided on a transport path of the recorded medium being transported by the first transport means; and a display unit for displaying information supplied from the recorded medium detecting means.
A recorded medium reproducing apparatus of this invention comprises: a stocker capable of accommodating recorded media; reproducing means for reproducing a recorded medium; first transport means for transporting the recorded medium between the inside of the stocker and the outside of an apparatus housing; second transport means for transporting the recorded medium between the inside of the stocker and a reproduction position; positioning means for determining a relative position between the recorded medium in the stocker and the first or second transport means; recorded medium detecting means provided on a transport path of a recorded medium being transported by the first transport means; a display unit for displaying information supplied from the recorded medium detecting means; and a control unit for controlling the recorded medium detecting means to detect a presence/absence of a recorded medium transported to the stocker by the first transport means and controlling the display unit to display information detected by the recorded medium detecting means, if the first transport means transports a recorded medium between the inside of the stocker and the outside of the housing while the second transport means has transported a recording medium to the reproduction position.
The recorded medium reproducing apparatus may comprise a recorded medium carrier with a recorded medium placing part, wherein the stocker accommodates the recorded medium carrier, and the first or second transport means transports the recorded medium carrier. According to the recorded medium reproducing apparatus of this invention, even while a recorded medium transported by the second transport means from the stocker to the recorded medium reproducing means is reproduced, a recording medium can be exchanged or dismounted by position aligning a desired recorded medium carrier with the position of the first transport means by the positioning means and by transporting the recorded medium carrier between the inside of the stocker and the outside of the housing.
During the recorded medium exchange work, while the first transport means transports a recorded medium from the outside of the housing to the inside of the stocker, a presence/absence of a recorded medium on the recorded medium carrier at the position of the first transport means can be immediately displayed on the display unit in accordance with the information detected by the recorded medium detecting means.
The structure that a recorded medium is transported by using the recorded medium carrier with the recorded medium placing part, can realize easily recording medium engaging means for the first and second transport means.